Tag Archives: Brunei

The Black Hornbill

A male black hornbill

I have been doing bird photography for a few years and the black hornbill is a bird that I have encountered only a few times in Kuala Baram Wetlands area near the roundabout going to Brunei. The black hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) is a sooty black bird of the hornbill family Bucerotidae. It can be found in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Indonesiua, Thailand and Singapore. The ...

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Reflections On The State Of My Mind

Bad memory

A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience.  – Doug Larson In slightly over a month’s time, I will be 59. As 60 looms, I worry about how to stay in shape mentally. I am a bit fearful that the state of my mind will gradually decline. I know that my mind needs constant workout to ...

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You Can Make A Difference!

Ha Van Minh's 2015 Progress Report

It was in 2006 that I first participated in World Vision Child Sponsorship Programme. I was working in Brunei at that time and I came to know that my boss’ school going daughter Rachel was sponsoring some kids through World Vision.  I took up the challenge and the first child I sponsored was a Thai boy by the name of ...

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An Amazing Trip To Piasau Nature Reserve

One of the hornbills

I have been to Piasau Nature Reserve twice in the past few weeks hoping to photograph the hornbills there but on both occasions, I failed to spot the hornbills. I went there again at about 8am this morning after getting tips from Josephine Lim, my ex-colleague in Brunei, who had successfully photographed the hornbills. After parking my car at the ...

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Pardon My Poor Photography Skills

Su, a reader of my blog, made a comment that I have a good blog and that he appreciates what I do as a Mirian. However, he suggested that maybe buying a new camera will make my blog even better. And I replied that the problem is not the camera but the photographer.  Anyway, thank you for your comment, Su! ...

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Things From The Bygone Sixties And Seventies

During the sixties and early seventies, I was a kid living in Binatang. Life then seemed to move at a snail’s pace, compared to life now. There was definitely much less stress then. Traffic jam was totally unheard of in Binatang as there were so few cars.  If a modern day teenager who grew up with the internet, smartphones, iPad, ...

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A Tribute To My Ex-Colleague Sophia Tan

I was saddened beyond words when Marissa Cuba, my ex-colleague in Brunei, sent me a SMS informing me that my ex-colleague Sophia Tan’s condition seems to have taken a turn for the worse. I thought she was recovering well as she has so much strength and faith. Her cancer has gone into remissions a few times only to relapse after ...

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